UF students travel to interview veterans of 1964 Freedom Summer

Published: Friday, June 27, 2014 at 2:15 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, June 27, 2014 at 2:15 p.m.

A cadre of students and staff from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida traveled to the heart of the Mississippi Delta this week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Summer, the historic voter registration project.

Facts

"I Will Never Forget"

The final edition of booklet containing excerpts from seven years of interviews of Sunflower County Freedom Summer veterans is available online to the public at the SPOHP website.

They went to interview veterans of the civil rights movement who still live in the Deep South, in Hinds County, Sunflower County, Bolivar County and Adams County — places where their previous interviews took place.

"The reception by local people throughout the Delta has been amazing," said Paul Ortiz, director of the oral history program and a history professor at UF. "Movement veterans in Mississippi are amazed and inspired that students from the University of Florida want to learn about their struggles. We are learning that the true history of the civil rights movement has yet to be told."

Sarah Blanc, research staff and coordinator for the Freedom Summer trip, said the students are learning from "activists who were involved in the movement when they were nearly the same age as the students themselves and willingly faced unfathomable challenges, intimidation and sacrifices."

They've also compiled a booklet containing excerpts from seven years of interviews of Sunflower County Freedom Summer veterans called "I Will Never Forget," which they gave out to guests at a 50th anniversary reunion in Indianola on Thursday, Blanc said.

The staff and students raised $2,000 from several units on campus to print 275 copies for the reunion attendees, she said.

"I am really pleased that we can make this gesture on behalf of UF, especially since everything contained in these pages was shared with us freely," Blanc said.

A final edition of the booklet is available online to the public at the SPOHP website http://oral.history.ufl.edu/files/I-Never-Will-Forget.pdf.

The Freedom Summer Tour took them to Natchez, Mississippi, on Tuesday, where they interviewed local people at an African-American history museum, Blanc said. They met movement veteran Philip White, the first black mayor of Natchez since Reconstruction; and Jessie B. Williams, who re-established the NAACP in the 1960s.

"We also interviewed several folks who were brought to Parchman Penitentiary as adolescents for demonstrating in Natchez," Blanc said. "Their mistreatment was astonishing but barely documented since many were too traumatized to talk about it."

Day Two saw the group conduct interviews at the Fannie Lou Hamer Museum Center in Ruleville, the birthplace of Hamer, who was a key organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and vice president of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

They interviewed Margaret Block and Cepheus Smith, Freedom Summer veterans, and Elisha Langdon, a World War II veteran who helped black farmers get federal loans.

"So far, the interviews we've conducted have revealed a strong tradition of local organizing and activism that both precedes and transcends the courageous work of those who engaged in Mississippi Freedom Summer," said Justin Dunnavant, a graduate coordinator for the Oral History Program.

They spent Thursday in Indianola. In the morning, half of the group filmed its second interview with Kelvin Williams, Bolivar County's first black sheriff elected since Reconstruction. The other half went to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Indianola to interview union organizers, Blanc said.

"We draw connections between the movement and these organizers working today, because improving conditions at the catfish processing plants are certainly a continuation of the struggle in the '60s," Blanc said.

Brittany M. Hibbert, a senior majoring in history at UF, said the strike in Indianola "showed how remarkably important a sense of community is. You mustn't ever underestimate the role of communities and their support of a cause."

In the afternoon, Ortiz interviewed Rebecca Hawkins, a woman from Sunflower County who turns 100 in October, Blanc said.

Thursday night, they attended the opening reception of the Sunflower County Freedom Summer Veterans Reunion at St. Benedict the Moor Church in Indianola, organized by Stacy White, a Mississippi Valley State University professor and friend of Ortiz, she said.

"Meeting these individuals who are legends to me personally was so overwhelming; at once it was like coming home to family, but then I was also in awe of every single person there," Blanc said. She said the reception of the book was overwhelmingly positive.

"We're so pleased that we fulfilled our promise to tell their story through many years of oral histories," she said.

The students conducted interviews all day Friday, which Blanc said she hopes to add to the current edition of "I Never Will Forget" as soon as possible.

Anna Armitage, who is getting her master's degree in the Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research at UF, said the trip has given her a new understanding of race relations in the South.

"Interviewing civil rights movement veterans reveals the messy lines of identity and how the intersection of race, class and gender influence activism and movement goals," she said.

<p>A cadre of students and staff from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida traveled to the heart of the Mississippi Delta this week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Summer, the historic voter registration project.</p><p>They went to interview veterans of the civil rights movement who still live in the Deep South, in Hinds County, Sunflower County, Bolivar County and Adams County — places where their previous interviews took place.</p><p>"The reception by local people throughout the Delta has been amazing," said Paul Ortiz, director of the oral history program and a history professor at UF. "Movement veterans in Mississippi are amazed and inspired that students from the University of Florida want to learn about their struggles. We are learning that the true history of the civil rights movement has yet to be told."</p><p>Sarah Blanc, research staff and coordinator for the Freedom Summer trip, said the students are learning from "activists who were involved in the movement when they were nearly the same age as the students themselves and willingly faced unfathomable challenges, intimidation and sacrifices."</p><p>They've also compiled a booklet containing excerpts from seven years of interviews of Sunflower County Freedom Summer veterans called "I Will Never Forget," which they gave out to guests at a 50th anniversary reunion in Indianola on Thursday, Blanc said.</p><p>The staff and students raised $2,000 from several units on campus to print 275 copies for the reunion attendees, she said.</p><p>"I am really pleased that we can make this gesture on behalf of UF, especially since everything contained in these pages was shared with us freely," Blanc said.</p><p>A final edition of the booklet is available online to the public at the SPOHP website http://oral.history.ufl.edu/files/I-Never-Will-Forget.pdf.</p><p>The Freedom Summer Tour took them to Natchez, Mississippi, on Tuesday, where they interviewed local people at an African-American history museum, Blanc said. They met movement veteran Philip White, the first black mayor of Natchez since Reconstruction; and Jessie B. Williams, who re-established the NAACP in the 1960s.</p><p>"We also interviewed several folks who were brought to Parchman Penitentiary as adolescents for demonstrating in Natchez," Blanc said. "Their mistreatment was astonishing but barely documented since many were too traumatized to talk about it."</p><p>Day Two saw the group conduct interviews at the Fannie Lou Hamer Museum Center in Ruleville, the birthplace of Hamer, who was a key organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and vice president of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.</p><p>They interviewed Margaret Block and Cepheus Smith, Freedom Summer veterans, and Elisha Langdon, a World War II veteran who helped black farmers get federal loans.</p><p>"So far, the interviews we've conducted have revealed a strong tradition of local organizing and activism that both precedes and transcends the courageous work of those who engaged in Mississippi Freedom Summer," said Justin Dunnavant, a graduate coordinator for the Oral History Program.</p><p>They spent Thursday in Indianola. In the morning, half of the group filmed its second interview with Kelvin Williams, Bolivar County's first black sheriff elected since Reconstruction. The other half went to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Indianola to interview union organizers, Blanc said.</p><p>"We draw connections between the movement and these organizers working today, because improving conditions at the catfish processing plants are certainly a continuation of the struggle in the '60s," Blanc said.</p><p>Brittany M. Hibbert, a senior majoring in history at UF, said the strike in Indianola "showed how remarkably important a sense of community is. You mustn't ever underestimate the role of communities and their support of a cause."</p><p>In the afternoon, Ortiz interviewed Rebecca Hawkins, a woman from Sunflower County who turns 100 in October, Blanc said.</p><p>Thursday night, they attended the opening reception of the Sunflower County Freedom Summer Veterans Reunion at St. Benedict the Moor Church in Indianola, organized by Stacy White, a Mississippi Valley State University professor and friend of Ortiz, she said.</p><p>"Meeting these individuals who are legends to me personally was so overwhelming; at once it was like coming home to family, but then I was also in awe of every single person there," Blanc said. She said the reception of the book was overwhelmingly positive.</p><p>"We're so pleased that we fulfilled our promise to tell their story through many years of oral histories," she said.</p><p>The students conducted interviews all day Friday, which Blanc said she hopes to add to the current edition of "I Never Will Forget" as soon as possible.</p><p>Anna Armitage, who is getting her master's degree in the Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research at UF, said the trip has given her a new understanding of race relations in the South.</p><p>"Interviewing civil rights movement veterans reveals the messy lines of identity and how the intersection of race, class and gender influence activism and movement goals," she said.</p><p>The group will return to Gainesville on Sunday morning.</p>